Very informative and interesting! I have noticed a big change in the last 15 years. You’re right how freedom of ideas and exchange of information flowed much freer back in the “old days”. I hope the future goes back to that time.
The internet is dead and it was corporate culture that killed it.
The “series of tubes” is actually a silo mega complex designed to control the flow of information and acceptable topics of conversation… just like legacy media from the days of the mono-culture [why else do you think grown adults can only relate to each other over TV shows & movies? See attached img].
The days of the “wild west” of the internet was the carrot under the box, once enough of us were nibbling away, the string was yanked…. and here we are, the captive audience whose every need is met via subscription service.
___
EDIT: just realized this also gets posted under the article, which doesn’t allow img attachments in the comments… so, depending on where one sees this, the reference to the “attached image” might not make sense.
Fascinating article, especially because I'm not on many of these sites.
I find that I dislike paywalls immensely and have had no problem walking away from many sites/publications that step outside their bounds or start going down a path that I can't support. I'm also quite bored by all the censorship and controlling that are going on, and those maneuvers motivate me to walk away too.
I concur. That's why I ensure that 90% of my content remains accessible to all, maximizing its value for as many individuals as possible. Anything beyond that is merely an added bonus.
The open internet started dying as soon as it was possible to make money on it. It's been downhill ever since. Advertising destroys everything it touches; always has.
The attempt at controlling one's viewers/customers is probably most responsible for developing critical thinking. After a while the shallow information clearly presented to direct one's thinking forces one to simply step-around and modify how one searches. It takes more effort but coming up against the troll guarding the bridge, you find a different way to travel and simply step around that obstacle. By forcing one to seek information off the common path, the elites have triggered critical thinking where it was not previously overly active.
The World Wide Web is ultimately what will have destroyed the Deep State.
I don’t have the mad skills of the Autists and Anons, but their ability to exploit the Www. and mine it for incriminating information re: our Enemies has been Required to pursue and win these Information Wars we fight. And they will continue to mine it, unless and until the whole Web is blacked out to keep the information from being found- as has been predicted. (Starlink….)
They. They became dependent on the Web for Their own machinations and schemes….and the information there Will kill them.
Nothing is ever really deleted on the Web.
I doubt the Web itself can ever be deleted.
As far as most, if not all of the Twitter-esque platforms, they are echo chambers for members of various “camps”- a considerable portion of people generally seek out those who think as they do and shun opposing viewpoints…who like as not post mean tweets at them for their views (trolls). They don’t actively seek out a verbal brawl by camping out in Lefty land on their threads.
But, they can be a gateway to redpill the normies- though I’m not sure of how effectively. It appears the younger generations have a surprising capacity to question information and sources than expected. Encouraging.
I use other sources besides Truth and all the rest for my news. Color me an old fart. I did have the honor of being banned from Twatter- and after the shock of being noticed so directly wore off I found that it MADE me look elsewhere for news of the World. I don’t care much if I get reinstated.
We are generally past getting the approachable Left to reconsider their positions by debate.
And even if you did, they’d bitterly resent you for your ability to prove their fallacies.
They have to change their own minds- I believe it’s been proven that only living through the collapses will get them to change their minds.
I beleive all technology has been cloaked with freedom to better get us hooked but was never ever intended to be for our highest good. It's controlled just as Tesla's electricity was intended to be free but we got the inversion of it. Being aware of this going forward is vitally important as the promise of huge technology drops are hinted. Discernment is our best approach.
I thought this was going to be about search engines returning the same results page after page.
I think your point here is basically correct and is in part due to the natural evolution of these systems in our crony corporate environment and in part due to the rise of AI, I think what you’re observing here was inevitable. We seem to be embarking on a new frontier, where it leads is anyones guess.
I did disagree with one particular part, “Renowned for its diverse communities, Reddit”.
Reddit was a neoliberal cesspool that ban hammered anything right of center. The Donald subreddit got chased off of there and ended up patriots.win outside of Reddit. The climate skeptics subreddit still exists, somehow. Reddit is about as diverse as Facebook or pre-Musk Twitter.
One of the best new(ish) substacks going, I reckon. Thanks for such a thoughtful contribution to the public discourse. Much needed.
Thank you for your kind words.
Very informative and interesting! I have noticed a big change in the last 15 years. You’re right how freedom of ideas and exchange of information flowed much freer back in the “old days”. I hope the future goes back to that time.
The internet is dead and it was corporate culture that killed it.
The “series of tubes” is actually a silo mega complex designed to control the flow of information and acceptable topics of conversation… just like legacy media from the days of the mono-culture [why else do you think grown adults can only relate to each other over TV shows & movies? See attached img].
The days of the “wild west” of the internet was the carrot under the box, once enough of us were nibbling away, the string was yanked…. and here we are, the captive audience whose every need is met via subscription service.
___
EDIT: just realized this also gets posted under the article, which doesn’t allow img attachments in the comments… so, depending on where one sees this, the reference to the “attached image” might not make sense.
Fascinating article, especially because I'm not on many of these sites.
I find that I dislike paywalls immensely and have had no problem walking away from many sites/publications that step outside their bounds or start going down a path that I can't support. I'm also quite bored by all the censorship and controlling that are going on, and those maneuvers motivate me to walk away too.
I concur. That's why I ensure that 90% of my content remains accessible to all, maximizing its value for as many individuals as possible. Anything beyond that is merely an added bonus.
You're a magnificient writer. Thank you for keeping me informed.
The open internet started dying as soon as it was possible to make money on it. It's been downhill ever since. Advertising destroys everything it touches; always has.
The attempt at controlling one's viewers/customers is probably most responsible for developing critical thinking. After a while the shallow information clearly presented to direct one's thinking forces one to simply step-around and modify how one searches. It takes more effort but coming up against the troll guarding the bridge, you find a different way to travel and simply step around that obstacle. By forcing one to seek information off the common path, the elites have triggered critical thinking where it was not previously overly active.
Respectfully disagree, in part.
The World Wide Web is ultimately what will have destroyed the Deep State.
I don’t have the mad skills of the Autists and Anons, but their ability to exploit the Www. and mine it for incriminating information re: our Enemies has been Required to pursue and win these Information Wars we fight. And they will continue to mine it, unless and until the whole Web is blacked out to keep the information from being found- as has been predicted. (Starlink….)
They. They became dependent on the Web for Their own machinations and schemes….and the information there Will kill them.
Nothing is ever really deleted on the Web.
I doubt the Web itself can ever be deleted.
As far as most, if not all of the Twitter-esque platforms, they are echo chambers for members of various “camps”- a considerable portion of people generally seek out those who think as they do and shun opposing viewpoints…who like as not post mean tweets at them for their views (trolls). They don’t actively seek out a verbal brawl by camping out in Lefty land on their threads.
But, they can be a gateway to redpill the normies- though I’m not sure of how effectively. It appears the younger generations have a surprising capacity to question information and sources than expected. Encouraging.
I use other sources besides Truth and all the rest for my news. Color me an old fart. I did have the honor of being banned from Twatter- and after the shock of being noticed so directly wore off I found that it MADE me look elsewhere for news of the World. I don’t care much if I get reinstated.
We are generally past getting the approachable Left to reconsider their positions by debate.
And even if you did, they’d bitterly resent you for your ability to prove their fallacies.
They have to change their own minds- I believe it’s been proven that only living through the collapses will get them to change their minds.
And seek information. And answers.
And not from Twatter, et al.
So monetize the bastards.
Someone’s been frequenting /pol.
I beleive all technology has been cloaked with freedom to better get us hooked but was never ever intended to be for our highest good. It's controlled just as Tesla's electricity was intended to be free but we got the inversion of it. Being aware of this going forward is vitally important as the promise of huge technology drops are hinted. Discernment is our best approach.
I thought this was going to be about search engines returning the same results page after page.
I think your point here is basically correct and is in part due to the natural evolution of these systems in our crony corporate environment and in part due to the rise of AI, I think what you’re observing here was inevitable. We seem to be embarking on a new frontier, where it leads is anyones guess.
I did disagree with one particular part, “Renowned for its diverse communities, Reddit”.
Reddit was a neoliberal cesspool that ban hammered anything right of center. The Donald subreddit got chased off of there and ended up patriots.win outside of Reddit. The climate skeptics subreddit still exists, somehow. Reddit is about as diverse as Facebook or pre-Musk Twitter.